# 2022–23 WHL season

The 2022–23 WHL season was the 57th season of the Western Hockey League (WHL). The regular season started on September 23, 2022, and ended on March 26, 2023, with the 2023 WHL Playoffs beginning on March 31 and ending on May 19. Teams went back to inter-conference games for first time since the 2019–20 season.
The Seattle Thunderbirds defeated the regular season-champion Winnipeg Ice 4 games to 1 in the finals to win their second Ed Chynoweth Cup and earn a spot in the 2023 Memorial Cup tournament, which was hosted by the Kamloops Blazers.

## Standings
### Conference standings

Western Conferenceviewtalkedit :
| Team | GP | W | L | OTL | SL | GF | GA | Pts |
| Seattle Thunderbirds xy | 68 | 54 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 300 | 155 | 111 |
| Kamloops Blazers xy | 68 | 48 | 13 | 4 | 3 | 313 | 198 | 103 |
| Portland Winterhawks x | 68 | 40 | 20 | 5 | 3 | 244 | 218 | 88 |
| Prince George Cougars x | 68 | 37 | 24 | 6 | 1 | 290 | 241 | 81 |
| Tri-City Americans x | 68 | 34 | 26 | 5 | 3 | 256 | 245 | 76 |
| Everett Silvertips x | 68 | 33 | 32 | 2 | 1 | 221 | 245 | 69 |
| Vancouver Giants x | 68 | 28 | 32 | 5 | 3 | 188 | 238 | 64 |
| Kelowna Rockets x | 68 | 27 | 37 | 4 | 0 | 210 | 256 | 58 |
| Victoria Royals e | 68 | 17 | 43 | 6 | 2 | 199 | 323 | 42 |
| Spokane Chiefs e | 68 | 15 | 43 | 4 | 6 | 195 | 314 | 40 |
Eastern Conferenceviewtalkedit :
| Team | GP | W | L | OTL | SL | GF | GA | Pts |
| Winnipeg Ice xyz | 68 | 57 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 325 | 177 | 115 |
| Red Deer Rebels xy | 68 | 43 | 19 | 3 | 3 | 248 | 189 | 92 |
| Saskatoon Blades x | 68 | 48 | 15 | 4 | 1 | 257 | 171 | 101 |
| Moose Jaw Warriors x | 68 | 41 | 24 | 0 | 3 | 252 | 237 | 85 |
| Lethbridge Hurricanes x | 68 | 36 | 26 | 3 | 3 | 204 | 207 | 78 |
| Regina Pats x | 68 | 34 | 30 | 3 | 1 | 262 | 277 | 72 |
| Calgary Hitmen x | 68 | 31 | 29 | 5 | 3 | 220 | 224 | 70 |
| Medicine Hat Tigers x | 68 | 30 | 29 | 8 | 1 | 248 | 224 | 69 |
| Swift Current Broncos e | 68 | 31 | 33 | 1 | 3 | 227 | 242 | 66 |
| Brandon Wheat Kings e | 68 | 26 | 33 | 8 | 1 | 212 | 242 | 61 |
| Prince Albert Raiders e | 68 | 28 | 37 | 3 | 0 | 198 | 239 | 59 |
| Edmonton Oil Kings e | 68 | 10 | 54 | 4 | 0 | 131 | 338 | 24 |
x – team has clinched playoff spot y – team has clinched division z – team has clinched best regular season record
e – team is eliminated from playoff contention

### Statistical leaders
#### Scoring leaders

Players are listed by points, then goals.
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts. = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Connor Bedard | Regina Pats | 57 | 71 | 72 | 143 | 62 |
| Chase Wheatcroft | Prince George Cougars | 68 | 47 | 60 | 107 | 46 |
| Zach Benson | Winnipeg Ice | 60 | 36 | 62 | 98 | 49 |
| Logan Stankoven | Kamloops Blazers | 48 | 34 | 63 | 97 | 17 |
| Riley Heidt | Prince George Cougars | 68 | 25 | 72 | 97 | 36 |
| Andrew Cristall | Kelowna Rockets | 54 | 39 | 56 | 95 | 50 |
| Matthew Savoie | Winnipeg Ice | 62 | 38 | 57 | 95 | 26 |
| Connor McClennon | Winnipeg Ice | 64 | 46 | 46 | 92 | 49 |
| Koehn Ziemmer | Prince George Cougars | 68 | 41 | 48 | 89 | 43 |
| Jagger Firkus | Moose Jaw Warriors | 66 | 40 | 48 | 88 | 24 |

### Leading goaltenders

These are the goaltenders that lead the league in GAA that played at least 1,200 minutes.
Note: GP = Games played; Mins = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OTL = Overtime losses; SOL = Shootout losses; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average; Sv% = Save percentage
| Player | Team | GP | Mins | W | L | OTL | SOL | SO | GAA | SV% |
| Thomas Milic | Seattle Thunderbirds | 33 | 1,964 | 27 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2.08 | 0.928 |
| Scott Ratzlaff | Seattle Thunderbirds | 34 | 2,011 | 25 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2.15 | 0.918 |
| Austin Elliott | Saskatoon Blades | 37 | 2,123 | 25 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2.20 | 0.911 |
| Daniel Hauser | Winnipeg Ice | 42 | 2,504 | 37 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2.28 | 0.917 |
| Rhett Stoesser | Red Deer Rebels | 25 | 1,480 | 19 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2.35 | 0.910 |

## 2023 WHL Playoffs

| Conference Quarterfinals | Conference Quarterfinals | Conference Quarterfinals | | | Conference Semifinals | Conference Semifinals | Conference Semifinals | | | Conference Finals | Conference Finals | Conference Finals | | WHL Championship | WHL Championship | WHL Championship |
| E1 | Winnipeg | 4 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| E8 | Medicine Hat | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| E8 | Medicine Hat | 0 | | | E1 | Winnipeg | 4 | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | E4 | Moose Jaw | 2 | | | | | | | | | |
| E2 | Red Deer | 4 | | | E4 | Moose Jaw | 2 | | | | | | | | | |
| E7 | Calgary | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| E7 | Calgary | 1 | | | | | | | | E1 | Winnipeg | 4 | | | | |
| Eastern | Eastern | Eastern | Eastern | Eastern | Eastern | Eastern | Eastern | | | E1 | Winnipeg | 4 | | | | |
| Eastern | Eastern | Eastern | Eastern | Eastern | Eastern | Eastern | Eastern | | | E3 | Saskatoon | 0 | | | | |
| E3 | Saskatoon | 4 | | | | | | | | | | | E3 | Saskatoon | 0 | | | | |
| E6 | Regina | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| E6 | Regina | 3 | | | E2 | Red Deer | 3 | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | E3 | Saskatoon | 4 | | | | | | | | | |
| E4 | Moose Jaw | 4 | | | E3 | Saskatoon | 4 | | | | | | | | | |
| E5 | Lethbridge | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| E5 | Lethbridge | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | E1 | Winnipeg | 1 |
| Note: Pairings are re-seeded after the first round. | Note: Pairings are re-seeded after the first round. | Note: Pairings are re-seeded after the first round. | Note: Pairings are re-seeded after the first round. | Note: Pairings are re-seeded after the first round. | Note: Pairings are re-seeded after the first round. | Note: Pairings are re-seeded after the first round. | Note: Pairings are re-seeded after the first round. | Note: Pairings are re-seeded after the first round. | Note: Pairings are re-seeded after the first round. | Note: Pairings are re-seeded after the first round. | Note: Pairings are re-seeded after the first round. | Note: Pairings are re-seeded after the first round. | | E1 | Winnipeg | 1 |
| Note: Pairings are re-seeded after the first round. | Note: Pairings are re-seeded after the first round. | Note: Pairings are re-seeded after the first round. | Note: Pairings are re-seeded after the first round. | Note: Pairings are re-seeded after the first round. | Note: Pairings are re-seeded after the first round. | Note: Pairings are re-seeded after the first round. | Note: Pairings are re-seeded after the first round. | Note: Pairings are re-seeded after the first round. | Note: Pairings are re-seeded after the first round. | Note: Pairings are re-seeded after the first round. | Note: Pairings are re-seeded after the first round. | Note: Pairings are re-seeded after the first round. | | W1 | Seattle | 4 |
| W1 | Seattle | 4 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | W1 | Seattle | 4 |
| W8 | Kelowna | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| W8 | Kelowna | 0 | | | W1 | Seattle | 4 | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | W4 | Prince George | 0 | | | | | | | | | |
| W2 | Kamloops | 4 | | | W4 | Prince George | 0 | | | | | | | | | |
| W7 | Vancouver | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| W7 | Vancouver | 0 | | | | | | | | W1 | Seattle | 4 | | | | |
| Western | Western | Western | Western | Western | Western | Western | Western | | | W1 | Seattle | 4 | | | | |
| Western | Western | Western | Western | Western | Western | Western | Western | | | W2 | Kamloops | 2 | | | | |
| W3 | Portland | 4 | | | | | | | | | | | W2 | Kamloops | 2 | | | | |
| W6 | Everett | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| W6 | Everett | 1 | | | W2 | Kamloops | 4 | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | W3 | Portland | 0 | | | | | | | | | |
| W4 | Prince George | 4 | | | W3 | Portland | 0 | | | | | | | | | |
| W5 | Tri-City | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

## Conference Quarter-finals
### Eastern Conference
#### (E1) Winnipeg Ice vs. (E8) Medicine Hat Tigers

* Winnipeg wins series 4–0

#### (E2) Red Deer Rebels vs. (E7) Calgary Hitmen

* Red Deer wins series 4–1

#### (E3) Saskatoon Blades vs. (E6) Regina Pats

* Saskatoon wins series 4–3

#### (E4) Moose Jaw Warriors vs. (E5) Lethbridge Hurricanes

* Moose Jaw wins series 4–0

### Western Conference
#### (W1) Seattle Thunderbirds vs. (W8) Kelowna Rockets

* Seattle wins series 4–0

#### (W2) Kamloops Blazers vs. (W7) Vancouver Giants

* Kamloops wins series 4–0

#### (W3) Portland Winterhawks vs. (W6) Everett Silvertips

* Portland wins series 4–1

#### (W4) Prince George Cougars vs. (W5) Tri-City Americans

* Prince George wins series 4–2

## Conference Semi-finals
### Eastern Conference
#### (E1) Winnipeg Ice vs. (E4) Moose Jaw Warriors

* Winnipeg wins series 4–2

#### (E2) Red Deer Rebels vs. (E3) Saskatoon Blades

* Saskatoon wins series 4–3

### Western Conference
#### (W1) Seattle Thunderbirds vs. (W4) Prince George Cougars

* Seattle wins series 4–0

#### (W2) Kamloops Blazers vs. (W3) Portland Winterhawks

* Kamloops wins series 4–0

## Conference Finals
### Eastern Conference
#### (E1) Winnipeg Ice vs. (E3) Saskatoon Blades

* Winnipeg wins series 4–0

### Western Conference
#### (W1) Seattle Thunderbirds vs. (W2) Kamloops Blazers

* Seattle wins series 4–2

## WHL Championship
### (E1) Winnipeg Ice vs. (W1) Seattle Thunderbirds

* Seattle wins series 4–1

## Playoff scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Logan Stankoven | Kamloops Blazers | 14 | 10 | 20 | 30 | 4 |
| Olen Zellweger | Kamloops Blazers | 14 | 11 | 18 | 29 | 10 |
| Matthew Savoie | Winnipeg Ice | 19 | 11 | 18 | 29 | 8 |
| Dylan Guenther | Seattle Thunderbirds | 19 | 16 | 12 | 28 | 12 |
| Brad Lambert | Seattle Thunderbirds | 17 | 6 | 20 | 26 | 8 |
| Ben Zloty | Winnipeg Ice | 19 | 1 | 23 | 24 | 2 |
| Connor McClennon | Winnipeg Ice | 19 | 14 | 9 | 23 | 15 |
| Jared Davidson | Seattle Thunderbirds | 19 | 11 | 12 | 23 | 17 |
| Jeremy Hanzel | Seattle Thunderbirds | 19 | 5 | 17 | 22 | 18 |
| Jagger Firkus | Moose Jaw Warriors | 10 | 10 | 11 | 21 | 10 |

## Playoff leading goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; Mins = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; GA = Goals Allowed; SO = Shutouts; SV& = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average
| Player | Team | GP | Mins | W | L | GA | SO | Sv% | GAA |
| Thomas Milic | Seattle Thunderbirds | 19 | 1,141 | 16 | 3 | 37 | 1 | 0.933 | 1.95 |
| Kyle Kelsey | Red Deer Rebels | 11 | 636 | 7 | 3 | 25 | 1 | 0.912 | 2.36 |
| Dylan Ernst | Kamloops Blazers | 14 | 863 | 10 | 4 | 37 | 3 | 0.913 | 2.57 |
| Daniel Hauser | Winnipeg Ice | 19 | 1,042 | 13 | 5 | 47 | 1 | 0.906 | 2.71 |
| Connor Ungar | Moose Jaw Warriors | 10 | 635 | 6 | 4 | 29 | 0 | 0.915 | 2.74 |

## WHL awards

| Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy | Regular season champions | Winnipeg Ice |
| Four Broncos Memorial Trophy | Player of the Year | Connor Bedard, Regina Pats |
| Bob Clarke Trophy | Top Scorer | Connor Bedard, Regina Pats |
| Bill Hunter Memorial Trophy | Top Defenceman | Olen Zellweger, Kamloops Blazers |
| Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy | Rookie of the Year | Ryder Ritchie, Prince Albert Raiders |
| Del Wilson Trophy | Top Goaltender | Thomas Milic, Seattle Thunderbirds |
| WHL Plus-Minus Award | Top Plus-Minus Rating | Jeremy Hanzel, Seattle Thunderbirds |
| Brad Hornung Trophy | Most Sportsmanlike Player | Brayden Yager, Moose Jaw Warriors |
| Daryl K. (Doc) Seaman Trophy | Scholastic player of the Year | Quinn Mantei, Brandon Wheat Kings |
| Jim Donlevy Memorial Trophy | Scholastic team of the Year | Portland Winterhawks |
| Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy | Coach of the Year | Brennan Sonne, Saskatoon Blades |
| Lloyd Saunders Memorial Trophy | Executive of the Year | Bil La Forge, Seattle Thunderbirds |
| Allen Paradice Memorial Trophy | Top Official | Chris Crich |
| St. Clair Group Trophy | Marketing/Public Relations Award | Spokane Chiefs |
| Doug Wickenheiser Memorial Trophy | Humanitarian of the Year | Logan Stankoven, Kamloops Blazers |
| WHL Playoff MVP | WHL Finals Most Valuable Player | Thomas Millic, Seattle Thunderbirds |
| Professional Hockey Achievement Academic Recipient | Alumni Achievement Awards | |

### All-Star Teams
#### Central Division

| First Team | First Team | Pos. | Second Team | Second Team |
| Player | Team | Pos. | Player | Team |
| Rhett Stoesser | Red Deer Rebels | G | Harrison Meneghin | Lethbridge Hurricanes |
| Owen Pickering | Swift Current Broncos | D | Dru Krebs | Medicine Hat Tigers |
| Christoffer Sedoff | Red Deer Rebels | D | Carter Yakemchuk | Calgary Hitmen |
| Riley Fiddler-Schultz | Calgary Hitmen | F | Jayden Grubbe | Red Deer Rebels |
| Josh Filmon | Swift Current Broncos | F | Mathew Ward | Swift Current Broncos |
| Kai Uchacz | Red Deer Rebels | F | Oazis Wiesblatt | Medicine Hat Tigers |

#### East Division

| First Team | First Team | Pos. | Second Team | Second Team |
| Player | Team | Pos. | Player | Team |
| Daniel Hauser | Winnipeg Ice | G | Austin Elliott | Saskatoon Blades |
| Stanislav Svozil | Regina Pats | D | Aidan De La Gorgendiere | Saskatoon Blades |
| Ben Zloty | Winnipeg Ice | D | Landon Kosior | Prince Albert Raiders |
| Connor Bedard | Regina Pats | F | Nate Danielson | Brandon Wheat Kings |
| Zach Benson | Winnipeg Ice | F | Matthew Savoie | Winnipeg Ice |
| Connor McClennon | Winnipeg Ice | F | Trevor Wong | Saskatoon Blades |

#### B.C. Division

| First Team | First Team | Pos. | Second Team | Second Team |
| Player | Team | Pos. | Player | Team |
| Jesper Vikman | Vancouver Giants | G | Dylan Ernst | Kamloops Blazers |
| Ethan Samson | Prince George Cougars | D | Kyle Masters | Kamloops Blazers |
| Olen Zellweger | Kamloops Blazers | D | Hudson Thornton | Prince George Cougars |
| Andrew Cristall | Kelowna Rockets | F | Caedan Bankier | Kamloops Blazers |
| Logan Stankoven | Kamloops Blazers | F | Riley Heidt | Prince George Cougars |
| Chase Wheatcroft | Prince George Cougars | F | Matthew Seminoff | Kamloops Blazers |

#### U.S. Division

| First Team | First Team | Pos. | Second Team | Second Team |
| Player | Team | Pos. | Player | Team |
| Thomas Milic | Seattle Thunderbirds | G | Tomas Suchanek | Tri-City Americans |
| Lukas Dragicevic | Tri-City Americans | D | Nolan Allan | Seattle Thunderbirds |
| Kevin Korchinski | Seattle Thunderbirds | D | Luca Cagnoni | Portland Winterhawks |
| Jackson Berezowski | Everett Silvertips | F | Chase Bertholet | Spokane Chiefs |
| Jared Davidson | Seattle Thunderbirds | F | Lucas Ciona | Seattle Thunderbirds |
| Gabe Klassen | Portland Winterhawks | F | Austin Roest | Everett Silvertips |

## Attendance

| Team | Home average |
| Edmonton | 6,500 |
| Spokane | 5,842 |
| Everett | 5,839 |
| Kamloops | 4,902 |
| Calgary | 4,874 |
| Portland | 4,508 |
| Saskatoon | 4,506 |
| Regina | 4,500 |
| Seattle | 4,342 |
| Kelowna | 4,304 |
| Red Deer | 4,163 |
| Victoria | 3,559 |
| Lethbridge | 3,525 |
| Tri-City | 3,510 |
| Vancouver | 3,462 |
| Brandon | 3,178 |
| Moose Jaw | 2,883 |
| Prince George | 2,755 |
| Medicine Hat | 2,651 |
| Prince Albert | 2,392 |
| Swift Current | 1,837 |
| Winnipeg | 1,649 |
| Total Average | 3,895 |
| Total | 2,913,612 |
| total games | 748 |

### Playoffs

| Home Team | Home Games | Average Attendance | Total Attendance |
| Saskatoon Blades | 10 | 8,780 | 87,801 |
| Regina Pats | 3 | 6,499 | 19,497 |
| Kamloops Blazers | 7 | 5,173 | 36,216 |
| Red Deer Rebels | 6 | 5,062 | 30,375 |
| Seattle Thunderbirds | 10 | 4,867 | 48,677 |
| Prince George Cougars | 5 | 4,609 | 23,046 |
| Everett Silvertips | 2 | 3,946 | 7,892 |
| Portland Winterhawks | 5 | 3,891 | 19,455 |
| Kelowna Rockets | 2 | 3,456 | 6,912 |
| Medicine Hat Tigers | 2 | 3,239 | 6,479 |
| Calgary Hitmen | 2 | 3,217 | 6,434 |
| Moose Jaw Warriors | 5 | 3,210 | 16,051 |
| Lethbridge Hurricanes | 2 | 2,953 | 5,906 |
| Vancouver Giants | 2 | 2,909 | 5,818 |
| Tri-City Americans | 3 | 2,750 | 8,251 |
| Winnipeg Ice | 9 | 2,536 | 22,827 |
| League | 75 | 4,701 | 352,637 |